How to Get a STEM Internship With No Experience

Getting a STEM internship with no experience is more realistic than it sounds, because “experience” means more than past internships. Employers and program reviewers want evidence that you can learn, follow through and apply what you know. You probably have more of that evidence than you think, and you can build more in a few weeks.

This article is about that first step. For the bigger picture of what internships involve and how to compare them, see our guide to STEM internships.

Take stock of what you already have

Start with an honest inventory. Every row below can become a line on your résumé or a story in an interview, if it’s true.

Experience inventory worksheet

Experience inventory worksheet

Source of evidence	What to write down	Example (fictional)
Coursework	Courses with labs, projects or programming	Built a simple circuit-testing rig in an intro engineering lab
Class projects	What you built or analyzed, the tools used, your role	Analyzed a public weather dataset in a statistics course
Personal projects	Anything finished, even if small	A web page that tracks a personal reading list
Jobs (any field)	Responsibility, reliability, customer contact, problem-solving	Trained two new staff at a part-time café job
Clubs and teams	Roles, events organized, competitions entered	Treasurer of a robotics club; managed a small budget
Self-taught skills	Tools you can actually use, at an honest level	Basic Python from a free online course; used it in one project

Build one or two pieces of evidence

If your inventory looks thin, add something concrete. A small, finished project beats a large, abandoned one.

An invented teaching example of a six-week plan:

• Weeks 1–2. Choose a question in your field that interests you and that public data or simple tools can address.
• Weeks 3–4. Do the work: build the thing, run the analysis, write the code.
• Week 5. Write a short summary: the question, what you did, what you found and what you’d do differently.
• Week 6. Put it somewhere you can link to, such as a portfolio page or code repository, and add one line about it to your résumé.

This works because it gives reviewers something specific to look at and gives you something specific to talk about.

Look for programs that expect beginners

Some internships are explicitly open to early-stage students. Federal programs are one place to look. NASA’s internship page, for example, says its Office of STEM Engagement internships are open to full- or part-time college students from undergraduate to graduate level, and OPM’s Pathways Internship Program is open to students enrolled at least part-time. Each program has other requirements, such as citizenship or GPA, so read the official eligibility pages carefully.

Other good places to look:

• On-campus roles in IT, labs, makerspaces or research support.
• Research positions at your college, which often train beginners. See undergraduate research opportunities.
• Smaller organizations and nonprofits, which may value enthusiasm and breadth.

Show potential in your application

When you can’t point to past internships, show how you learn:

• Be specific. “Used Python to clean and chart a public dataset” beats “familiar with programming.”
• Show the outcome. What did your project produce or reveal?
• Connect to the role. One sentence on why this organization’s work interests you.
• Be honest about your level. “Beginner” or “coursework-level” is fine. Overstating skills tends to unravel in interviews and can follow you afterwards.

Our guide to the STEM internship résumé covers layout and wording, and the résumé template gives you a structure.

Track your applications

Applying to several roles is normal. Keep a simple record of where you applied, deadlines, what each asked for and any responses. The STEM internship comparison worksheet helps when offers come in.

Common questions

Is it worth applying if I meet only some of the requirements?

Often, yes, especially for “preferred” qualifications. Hard requirements such as citizenship, enrollment or GPA are different: if a program says they’re required, take that at face value.

Should I take an unpaid role just to get experience?

Consider your finances and what you’d really learn. Our STEM internships guide explains when unpaid internships at for-profit companies are permitted under US labor rules.

A practical next step

Complete the experience inventory above with at least one true example in each row you can. Then pick the weakest row and decide on one small project to strengthen it.